Buddy 150 considerations

[newo2u]

Hello all. This is my girlfriends ride. Doesn't she look happy?



But here is my dilema. Now that she has her motorcycle endorsement I no longer have free reign to ride the scooter. So, I want my own.

Currently I ride my Harely with one child on the back and she rides her scooter with the other. I am 6'2" and go about 270. Child weighs 50. The acceleration of the Mojito is adequate; the suspension is not. Would a 150cc version of the Buddy provide better/same acceleration ( I think it weighs less) and would the suspension have more travel since it actually has telescoping forks instead of that springer set-up on the Mojito?

Drove a Kymco 200 (actually 167cc )yesterday and was not impressed with it's acceleration or smoothness.

[KRUSTYburger]

I've got a bud125 & it is VERY quick on the accel. Not so sure about the suspension, of course there are always UPGRADES!!!

[jfrost2]

Suspension on my buddy is great! Very nice for a scooter, it isnt fancy like the Blur's but it does the job and takes in all the impact.

For acceleration, I think the buddy does a great job too, it's much lighter, so the engine can put out more power. There are 250+ pound riders here who speak highly of the buddy.

[Kevin K]

You owe it to yourself to ride a Kymco People 250 S.
Seriously.
-K

[robtaylor]

You owe it to yourself to ride a Kymco People 250 S.
Seriously.
-K

no offence but, with your height and weight i agree you should check out the kymco. i am 5'9" and weight about 185 and while the suspension is great sometimes i wish the bike were bigger, but you could always ride the harley for something bigger

[Kevin K]

Agreed. The Harley may be better for when the open road calls, but it's hard to beat the People S when it comes to comfortable two-up riding in town.
-K

[Drumwoulf]

That Mojito is one fine looking scoot, IMO! And since you already are familar with the Piaggio brand, you might also want to look at the Vespa GT200. It can be gotten much cheaper now that the GTS250 is so popular, and it's a damn fine scooter... (Of course, owning one, I am slightly prejudiced...)

[newo2u]

OK, so Buddy 150 may not be quite big enough. The local Aprilia dealer is cool to work with, but I don't care for the Sportcity 250 or the Scarabeo 200. There is a Piaggio dealer not too far away that carries Vespas so I could check out the GT200 and will also check out the larger Kymco offerings (People 250)

Any chance Genuine is going to import any of the 200cc offerings their supplier offers overseas?

[Drumwoulf]

Anyone looking for a larger scooter, it's been confirmed over on MV that Vespa is coming out with the GT300 in 2009! This of course will bring many more lightly used GTS250's on the market....

And you should be able to get new GT200 leftovers (and also new GT250's soon) from dealers at reduced sale prices. I know I got my new GT200 '07 (the last year it was made) at around 1K less than when it first came out, because many new buyers only wanted the 250's...!

[ericalm]

OK, so Buddy 150 may not be quite big enough. The local Aprilia dealer is cool to work with, but I don't care for the Sportcity 250 or the Scarabeo 200. There is a Piaggio dealer not too far away that carries Vespas so I could check out the GT200 and will also check out the larger Kymco offerings (People 250)

Any chance Genuine is going to import any of the 200cc offerings their supplier offers overseas?

No Genuine 200s in the near future. We hear they may be a Stella 250 in the pipeline, but it'll be a 4-stroke and probably have a top speed close to or not much higher than a Buddy 150 (could be wrong on that; it's all rumor at this point).

Check out the SYM HD200 if any local dealers carry them. I hear it accelerates better than the Kymco 250.

What did you not like about the SportCity 250?

The Vespa GT200 was discontinued last year, though some dealers have a couple sitting around, unsold as they sell GTS250s.

[jrsjr]

Check out the SYM HD200 if any local dealers carry them. I hear it accelerates better than the Kymco 250.

The SYM 200, actually a 171 cc machine, is definitely zippy, and from what I could tell, it's actually a pretty nice bike. Also, SYM has got a very nice 262 cc machine in the pipeline called the Citycom 300. They're selling them elsewhere already and the USA is supposed to get them this summer. Clicking the attached photo of the Citycom will take you to a brief article about the new bike.

[KRUSTYburger]

looks like their version of the Blur!

[twharton]

Why go with a HOG? If you want a true modern classic motorcycle that is moderate size and powerful I recommend the Triumph Bonneville.

Brando rode one in The Wild Ones and Mr. Steve McQueen rode one and so can you.



and here's a 2007 minimalist version....



and here's a custom vintage true bobber rebuild



Guess what my next 2 wheel ride will be if I ever get one.

[madtolive]

jeez louise, that is one sexy machine.

[Buddy_wannabe]

Anyone have / or rode a Burgman?

[DarbyWalters]

SUZUKI BURGMAN 400CC are nice with plenty of room...they are also coming out with a 700cc pretty soon. The Burgman 400 will do 100mph...verified by me last Sunday.

[NathanielSalzman]

There's also the Piaggio BV500.

Have you thought about the Genuine Blur? It's 150cc, has great acceleration (for a scooter) and most of all has a fantastic suspension under it with 4-pot disk brakes front and rear on 13" wheels. Genuine doesn't promote them as an '08 model, but they're readily available from the central office in Chicago. You can pick up a 2006 (but still brand new) for a touch less than a 150cc Buddy.

[ericalm]

There's also the Piaggio BV500.

Have you thought about the Genuine Blur? It's 150cc, has great acceleration (for a scooter) and most of all has a fantastic suspension under it with 4-pot disk brakes front and rear on 13" wheels. Genuine doesn't promote them as an '08 model, but they're readily available from the central office in Chicago. You can pick up a 2006 (but still brand new) for a touch less than a 150cc Buddy.

Problem with the Blur is that it's slower than a Buddy 125. One of several reasons it didn't catch on and has been discontinued from the Genuine lineup (PGO still makes them).

[vbl]

There's also the Piaggio BV500.

Have you thought about the Genuine Blur? It's 150cc, has great acceleration (for a scooter) and most of all has a fantastic suspension under it with 4-pot disk brakes front and rear on 13" wheels. Genuine doesn't promote them as an '08 model, but they're readily available from the central office in Chicago. You can pick up a 2006 (but still brand new) for a touch less than a 150cc Buddy.

Problem with the Blur is that it's slower than a Buddy 125. One of several reasons it didn't catch on and has been discontinued from the Genuine lineup (PGO still makes them).

Glad I read this before I pulled the trigger on one.

[NathanielSalzman]

Problem with the Blur is that it's slower than a Buddy 125. One of several reasons it didn't catch on and has been discontinued from the Genuine lineup (PGO still makes them).

Wow. Where do I start? A) I've got both in my garage and the Blur trounces the Buddy in every performance category, no contest. B) They didn't catch on because they weren't packaged well and only came in one color. C) They're not discontinued, they're just not part of the official lineup this year. Any Genuine dealer could get you a Blur from Chicago. Plus, straight from the mouth of Phil M, they're coming back, including the 250 cc version and minus the halloween color scheme (which once you peel all the goofy orange stickers off actually looks really good).

And vbl, get a ride on one if you can. It takes about 30 seconds to realize what a great scooter it is.

[ericalm]

Problem with the Blur is that it's slower than a Buddy 125. One of several reasons it didn't catch on and has been discontinued from the Genuine lineup (PGO still makes them).

Wow. Where do I start? A) I've got both in my garage and the Blur trounces the Buddy in every performance category, no contest. B) They didn't catch on because they weren't packaged well and only came in one color. C) They're not discontinued, they're just not part of the official lineup this year. Any Genuine dealer could get you a Blur from Chicago. Plus, straight from the mouth of Phil M, they're coming back, including the 250 cc version and minus the halloween color scheme (which once you peel all the goofy orange stickers off actually looks really good).

And vbl, get a ride on one if you can. It takes about 30 seconds to realize what a great scooter it is.

A) Sorry, I was referring to the Blur 150. See this thread. But even the 200 didn't offer enough extra power/speed to lure people away from the Buddy or more traditional-looking scoots.

B) They didn't catch on for a lot of reasons, some of which I address in the thread I linked to above. It wasn't just color. For a scoot with the Blur's aggressive, modern looks to appeal to most potential buyers, it needs to outperform the more traditional-looking offerings next to it at the dealer by more the just a smidge. The Buddy and the Kymco People are simply much more appealing to most new scooter buyers.

C) Go to genuinescooters.com and look in the drop-down under "scooters." No Blur. There may still be some available from Genuine, but they're no longer being manufactured by PGO in the Blur configuration for the US market, Genuine is not importing new ones at the moment and dealers are not ordering them to sell on their floors. I think that pretty much means "discontinued," even if some leftovers might still be available. If it returns to the lineup, it likely won't be the Blurs we've seen in the past.

A Blur 250 would certainly be a much more marketable scooter, but again, to gain wide acceptance and really get a foothold in the market, it would have to have a lot of advantages over comparable scooters in terms of price or performance. As I mention in the speed thread, Genuine may be bringing a different 250 to the market next year (though I suspect it will cost much more than a Blur 250). Also, the '07 Blurs didn't have the Halloween colors. They were all gray/black.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Blur and would like to see it return to the Genuine lineup. I just don't think it was a very marketable product at the time it was offered. If/when it returns, I'm hoping it will be more performance-oriented and that Genuine/Scooterworks/Prima/whoever will also offer an array or upgrades to further its appeal.